Robert Nelson
Victims Helping Victims
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February 15, 1945 -- November 9, 2001
Four years ago, in November 2001, my husband, Bob, and I decided to take a Royal Caribbean Cruise to the Bahamas.
While onboard “Sovereign of the Seas”, Bob purchased a shore excursion through the cruise line to go scuba diving on November 9, 2001. When he left the ship that morning for his scuba diving adventure, it was last time I saw him...
The dive master, who was also his diving “buddy”, had left him to assist another diver with their equipment. Later, I learned that the sea was really too rough that day to go diving. All other dive companies had canceled their dives, because of this; therefore, they should never have been out diving.
There was a search and I was put off the ship, as it moved on. I still don't recall how many days I was alone in the Bahamas, before my sons came to take me home.
When we got home, my son contacted Royal Caribbean International (RCI) to request a copy of the report, but he was told there was no report and nothing on file. Through the courts, I had attempted to make RCI responsible for this, but due to the fact that my husband had signed a waiver, and since RCI did not own the scuba diving company, I was unsuccessful. I still can't understand why RCI is not responsible for what they sell on their cruises.
It took several years for me to receive benefits from my husband’s death. I wish I had known that your group (International Cruise Victims) was out there. I would love to see stronger safety laws for cruise lines that operate for Americans, but get away with sailing under foreign flags.
NANCY NELSON
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Additional Comments & Details - Provided by MARK NELSON (Son)
My father disappeared on a Friday dive. Upon receiving the call from my mother that night, I immediately called my wife. My wife’s brother works for the sheriff’s office and he assisted by contacting the U.S. Coast Guard on our behalf.
My wife and I, along with my brother, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, caught the first flight out on Saturday morning. The Bahamian government had not informed the U.S. Coast Guard, but the Coast Guard was requesting permission to search. They did not obtain that permission until the following day. This may have been due to the dive company’s delay (several hours) in reporting my father as missing. Apparently, they waited until they did their own unsuccessful search before reporting his disappearance. By then, it was too dark to continue searching.
The U.S. Coast Guard was not satisfied with the first search and wanted to conduct another, but their request was denied…. So by Saturday night nobody was looking for my father! My mother was so hysterical that she needed to be medicated.
In the meantime, my sister-in-law was calling the hospitals and morgues, all which were completely full, due to a recent hurricane. As a result, she was forced to search through “John Doe’s” and others on her own.
Apparently, there is not a broadcast system to the multiple police stations in the Bahamas. In fact, the police station directly across the street from the “Search and Rescue” had not been informed of a missing diver, because my father’s disappearance took place on the other side of the island.
By the way, the island’s Search and Rescue mission was a joke! The 400-pound office worker with blood red eyes, who had clearly been smoking pot, seemed more interested in his girlfriend, than with helping us. And the dive shop was too busy making money from other new divers to assist us. Believe it or not, they even charged us for my Dad’s rental gear!
We were basically on our own in a foreign country, attempting to get answers surrounding my father’s disappearance, but nobody was willing to discuss it with us. Since it was still considered an “open case”, the police would make no comments… They even refused to provide my brother-in-law with a note for the airlines, in order for him to obtain a discount-ticket for his return flight. No matter where we turned, we kept hitting stonewalls. Royal Caribbean, did however, employ a company to handle our hotel and hotel expenses, and to assist with getting us back home.
It is extremely important to alert U.S citizens, as well as other cruise travelers, of the many dangers associated with foreign travel, activities in foreign countries, assistance during emergencies, and particularly when purchasing excursion packages from a cruise ship, as the cruise lines hold themselves harmless and unaccountable for the aftermath.
It may be wiser for U.S. citizens to spend their hard-earned U.S. dollars in our OWN country!
